GM Touts U.S. Rebound, But Europe Losses Weigh

Steve Schaefer
,
Forbes Staff
If you can put the word markets after it, I cover it.

(Image credit: AFP/Getty Images via @daylife)

A recovering domestic automotive market helped lift General Motors' fourth-quarter results Thursday, but the Europe continues to serve as a brake on enthusiasm for the carmaker.

GM earned $900 million in Q4 on revenue that was up 3% to $39.3 billion, as adjusted North American earnings of $1.4 billion were offset by a $700 million loss in Europe. On a per-share basis, GM's fourth-quarter earnings were 54 cents

In the company's release Chairman and CEO an Akerson touted a "third straight year of profitability" and "significant actions to put the company on a solid path for future growth."

For the year, net income attributable to common shareholders was down to $4.9 billion, from $7.6 billion in 2011, due to unfavorable special items.

In a note Thursday, Citi analyst Itay Michaeli writes that the Europe loss was slightly worse than anticipated, butno real surprise and in line with Ford Motor's results across the Atlantic. Michaeli recommends buying the stock on any substantial pullback Thursday, with a view that the company's 2013 outlook is little changed by the results from Q4.

Any shot at a pullback withered by the open though, as narrow pre-market losses reversed to a 1.5% gain for GM in the first five minutes of trading. The Treasury Department still owns about 19% of the company, or slightly more than 300 million shares, on its way to completely exiting the investment by early 2014.